


Sea Salt

by 1freekywriter



Series: KH3's Destiny Trio, but Good [1]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-08
Updated: 2019-02-08
Packaged: 2019-10-24 09:01:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17701397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/1freekywriter/pseuds/1freekywriter
Summary: This is a rewrite of the first scene with these two in KH3, so major spoilers!---Kairi is hard at work with her keyblade training. Lea gets her some ice cream because she deserves it.





	Sea Salt

**Author's Note:**

> So, this is my first fanfic in almost a decade, so yeah. I just think Kairi needs a personality, so I gave her one. Also I love their friendship, and there needs to be more of it. Completely unedited, so sorry for any grammar or spelling mistakes.

Kairi taps the pen to the paper thoughtfully. There's so much to tell Sora and Riku that she doesn't even know where to begin. Some part of her is tempted to apologize for leaving without saying goodbye. It must be the part of her that was raised by the mayor. Nice as he and his wife were, they were adamant about Kairi not causing trouble. 

“Sora,” Kairi writes, mouthing each word, “how are things going for you? Lea and I have training in some kind of timeless forest Merlin made. At least, I think he made it. Lea always says that he wouldn't be surprised if he did.” 

Kairi pauses for a moment, wondering if she should write about Lea. She doubts he'd appreciate Sora and Riku- especially Riku- knowing his business. But then again, it's not she's not involved. And despite the fact that Kairi's forgiven him, she didn't appreciate being kidnapped to be used as Sora's “motivation.” So, it's fair.

“Lea and I have been working hard to improve with our keyblades. It's slow, but we're getting there! Soon, we'll be as good as you and Riku! You better protect your place as a keyblade prodigy! Speaking of Lea-”

Kairi picks up her pen, thinking of how to explain it.

“Speaking of Lea, it took a while to get used to him. I just can't seem to get a read on him.  When I think he's going to start apologizing again, he jokes and does the opposite when I think he's going to crack a joke. Also, sometimes I catch him staring at me like he's trying to remember someone. I wonder if it’s Namine, or someone else.” 

Kairi sighs to herself. How should she finish the letter? She glances at the sky. It's getting close to twilight; she should hurry up and get back.

“Oh, here you are,” a familiar voice remarks casually. Kairi looks behind her. Lea stands at the edge of the forest, a bag hanging from the crook of his elbow. The ever-present black hood contrasts with his fiery hair.

Kairi smiles at him, setting down her pen and paper.

“Oh man, you found me,” she jokes, “Whatever shall I do?”

“Brat,” Lea huffs indignantly, crossing his arms. 

“Giant,” Kairi returns, sticking out her tongue.

“Whatever.”

Lea walks over to her, ruffling her hair as he passes. She raises an eyebrow and glares halfheartedly.

“Jerk,” Kairi mutters as he sits down next to her. Lea laughs loudly, throwing back his head. The sound is infectious, and soon Kairi can't help but to giggle too.

“Here you go, future keyblade master.” Lea hands Kari a bar of ice cream. Kairi blinks at it in confusion before looking at him with raised eyebrows.

“What's this for?” she asks, tucking some hair behind her ear.

“The icing on the cake!” Lea declares, unwrapping his own bar and chomping into it. Kairi shrugs. She'll never say no to ice cream.

She unwraps the bar and takes a small bite, trying to gauge the taste. Sora and Riku always tease her for it, but she can't bite directly into ice cream unless she takes a smaller bite first. What if it doesn't taste good and you had to deal with a huge bite of gross ice cream? No thank you.

“So, how’d you like it?” Lea asks, in a tone that Kairi can only describe as eager.

“It's salty,” she pauses to take a slightly bigger bite, “but sweet.”

Lea's eyes widen for a fraction of a second before another plastic grin is pasted on his face.

“Good, right?” Lea asks, and, before Kairi has the chance to respond, continues, “Speaking of good, you were amazing with that keyblade of yours today! Took me clean off my feet!”

“If you say so. I still wouldn’t be a match for the others,” Kairi deflects. Lea scoffs and snatches her ice cream from her hands. She stares at him in abject horror. 

“What’d you do that for?” she cries, trying to reach over to get the ice cream. He holds it over his head smirking.

“Only keyblade wielders who believe in themselves get ice cream,” Lea. comments. Kairi glares at him. All her positive feelings about him shrivel up, replaced by a need for vindication. 

“Give. Me. My. Ice cream,” she forces through gritted teeth. 

Lea snickers, waving it around.

Kairi elbows him in the ribs. His arm drops and she snatches the ice cream. Lea looks at her with a dumbfounded expression, but she feels pride radiating from him in waves.

“See what I mean! I’ll have to work hard if I don’t want to fall behind!” Lea laughs, ruffling her hair again. Kairi rolls her eyes, but a satisfied grin spreads across her face.

“Whatever you say,” Kairi sighs, turning to look at the sunset. “Hey, Lea?”

“Yeah, kiddo?”

“Tomorrow, in the ring- don’t hold back. Promise?”

Kairi turns to look at Lea. She’s taken aback by the look on his face.

As if Stop was cast on him, he looks ahead, frozen. His eyes are wide and unseeing. Kairi can only watch in open-mouthed terror as the ice cream bar drops from Lea’s hand and tears form in his eyes. He stares at her with too many emotions to name. Panic, confusion, fear, frustration, sadness. 

Anxiety floods Kairi. What happened to him? Was it what she said? Id it somehow Xehanort? Did he find them? 

“Lea?” she asks,  her voice wavering. She touches his shoulder softly, hoping to break him from the trance he’s in. 

“Xi-” Lea stop abruptly as the word dies in his throat. He blinks frantically. More tears drip onto his cheeks, almost exactly where the marks used to be. 

“Lea!” Kairi exclaims. Her heart beats erratically in her chest. “Are you okay? What’s wrong? Do you need help? What can I do? Should I get Merlin?”

Lea takes a deep, shuddering breath and covers his face with his hand. After a moment, he takes his hand away. Kairi notices his eyes are rimmed with red and, despite the very fake smile, the heartbroken sadness in his upturned eyebrows. Sympathy floods her heart, but Kairi holds back. If he were Sora or Riku, she’d know how to comfort him. It’d either be a warm hug or just sitting with their shoulders touching. But, Lea’s not them, and as much as she wishes she did, Kairi has no idea how to comfort him.

“Sorry about that,” Lea clears his throat, “don’t know where it came from. Maybe I just realized that a little kid beat me up today. And, uh, you don’t have to do anything- except, maybe- if  you want, of course-”

“What is it?” Kairi interrupts before he psychs himself out. 

“Call me Axel.”


End file.
